De verloren Duitse duikboot

GENRE
ACTION ADVENTURE DRAMA
Core Theme
REVENGE
TIME PERIOD
1960s & '70s
COMPARABLE TITLES
THE MONUMENT MEN
CHARACTER LIST
• THE MAIN CHARACTERS ARE A GROUP OF YOUNG MEN CELEBRATING THEIR GRADUATION.
• GEERT: 21, MECHANIC, FRIEND FROM SCOUT CAMP
• YUUR: 21, SKIPPER, FRIEND FROM SCOUT CAMP
• BERT: 21, CHEF, FRIEND FROM SCOUT CAMP
• PETER: 21, MECHANIC, FRIEND FROM SCOUT CAMP
• GUST: 21, WELDER, FRIEND FROM SCOUT CAMP
Logline
In the middle of 1943 two submarines were moored on an uninhabited island in the Atlantic ocean. The Kriegsmarine is hiding a submarine that is badly damaged during a battle with the Allied destroyer. A little later the sailors leave for Germany with the second submarine, but they will never arrive there. Just under twenty years after World War 2, a group of young guys are making a world trip on their sailing ship. They picked up a number of girls in a harbor and party every day. That's how their ship runs aground on that island. They have damage and need to repair it during these repairs, two couples are looking for fresh fruit. They find the submarine and its cargo. (gold worth billions of dollars). They take some of the gold with them and drop the girls off in their village. These each receive a crate of gold and take it home. But on the way, refugee Nazis see the crates and immediately recognize it. They learn that the young men have found the submarine and that they have taken a lot of gold. They give chase and when they find the men they attack with battleships and submarines. What they do not know is that the boys enlisted the help of usmc and so a fierce battle is fought.
Target Audiences
Age: 13-17,18-34,35-54,55+
Target Gender: Universal
Setting
the story starts in Belgium and then goes around the world
Based on a True Story
No
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: with a Publisher
Publisher: www.boescout.nl
Starting Description
a group of friends who graduate together decide to buy a ship and go on a world trip, but their story changes from a fun trip to an exciting adventure
Ending Description
they get help from the usmc and defeat the nazis then they can safely return to their port in belgium
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
No
ISBN
978-94-022-4540-0
Mature Audience Themes
Information not completed
Plot - Other Elements
Happy Ending
Plot - Premise
Voyage and Return
Main Character Details
Name: Tuur
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Adventurous, Charming, Romantic, Sexy
Additional Character Details
Name: Geert
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Adventurous,Faithful,Educated
Additional Character Details
Name: Bart
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Role: protagonist
Key Traits: Adventurous,Faithful,Strong Moral Code,Confident,Educated,Flexible
Additional Character Details
Name: Bert
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Role: sidekick
Key Traits: Adventurous,Charming,Aspiring,Confident,Faithful
Development Pitch
Genre
ACTION, DRAMA
Brief
A group of Belgian teens fix up a boat and sail off for a summer of fun across the Atlantic Ocean. They end up ashore on an unmarked island only to discover a lost German submarine. The submarine happened to be filled with gold. The teens take some of the treasure, but must fight off the hidden Nazis abroad who have been searching for the stolen gold.
Overall Rating
FAIR
Narrative Elements
Authors Writing Style: FAIR
Characterization: FAIR
Commerciality: FAIR
Franchise Potential: FAIR
Pace: FAIR
Premise: FAIR
Structure: FAIR
Theme: FAIR
Accuracy of Book Profile
The genre is listed as young adult, but this is not really a coming of age tale. Although the men are younger, they are clearly fully functioning adults as they are able to circumnavigate the globe. Labeling the genre as an action or drama will help preview the contents more accurately to that of a group of men learning a lesson about growing up. The story is about the external conflict of the gold discovery not the men's internal conflicts.
Draw of Story
The idea of discovering gold on an abandoned island is given a historical twist in that the gold is Nazi gold. Thus the sailing men have a hidden enemy that is ruthless but also that must remain hidden from global prosecution. Having war criminals who need to travel international waters to regain billions in stolen wealth is a nuanced layer of stealth within the normal action chase trope.
Possible Drawbacks
There are thirteen guys/boys that are sailing as well as thirteen women. This is a lot of characters that do not allow for much internal conflict or emotional growth. Although the numbers often work in their favor for survival, too many characters creates little emotional attachment to the protagonists. By lessening the amount of characters they will be able to grow individually and the audience is more likely to root for their success if they are more attached to the actual character aside from the external goal.
Use of Special Effects
THE STORY RELIES HEAVILY ON SPECIAL EFFECTS
Primary Hook of Story
The hook is that the shipwrecked young men discover a lost Nazi submarine that is filled with treasure. They rescue themselves only to be pursued by Nazis hiding in plain sight back home who want to locate the rest of the loot.
Fanbase Potential
The WWII use of Nazis as villains generally has a successful turnout for fans of action and or historical dramas. A lost submarine and subsequent makes the genre more action oriented thus would likely have a larger fanbase as an action film rather than a drama.
Awards Potential
This seems to be an action film and thus is not likely to gain any awards outside of potentially special effects or sound design recognition. The ethics of stolen Nazi gold and the characters' emotional range are not in depth enough to garner other types of awards.
Envisioned Budget
LARGE BUDGET
Similar Films/TV Series
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, RIVER OF DEATH, WOMAN IN GOLD, THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, THE MAN FROM UNCLE, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE
What’s New About the Story
The chase sequences and the discovered submarine full of gold are made more interesting by owners. Having Nazi war criminals pursuing unsuspecting teens is interesting in that the risk is worth the billion dollars, but also there is a degree they must remain hidden to avoid their true identities being discovered as fake refugees. This makes the criminals both more stealthy and ruthless in order to cover their tracks. Focusing more on the main conflict over this gold, rather than the Belgians' accidental trip to the island would help focus the plot and even out the pacing.
Lead Characters
There are thirteen young men manning the ship and thus there is not a lot that defines them outside of their duties while sailing. It is difficult to distinguish the men by their personalities and what makes them different as characters.
Uniqueness of Story
This needs more focus on providing memorable characters to go along with the interesting premise of the discovered treasure aboard a lost Nazi submarine. There is a lot of good action and plot elements, but the characters are underdeveloped without internal conflicts. The women are even less developed with a lot of trauma that is ignored as the Nazis pursue the goal. The women have just as big of an involvement in the chase and could also in the initial sailing adventure, but are underplayed in their capabilities.
Possible Formats
Film - Studio, Film - Streaming, TV Series - Cable, TV Series - Streaming
Analyst Recommendation
WORK IN PROGRESS
Justification
While the story has many positive points, it has room for improvement (see possible paths below). If you can't change the story at this point, my suggestion is using your notes as a guide to highlight the best aspects of it when taking the next steps, either putting a pitch page together, a treatment, or a presentation.
Tips for Improvement
Shortening the amount of protagonists and giving the women more agency will help create emotional investment in the external goal. Also adding internal conflict to the external conflict will add depth to both the antagonists and protagonists. Considering a shorter backstory and set up to initiate the hero's journey and main conflict as evading the Nazis rather than an island jaunt will focus the plot and even out the pacing. At present there seems to be three separate concepts of the covert submarine mission, an island adventure and a Nazi recovery chase, by integrating the Nazi efforts earlier, the tension will be more consistent throughout.
Brief
When a group of friends on a graduation find a submarine filled with gold, they team up with the US Marines in a battle against the Nazis.
What We Liked
Finding missing gold treasure is alluring. The battle sequences between the US Marines and the Nazis is also a captivating part of the story.
Film: A feature adaptation would require a large budget and a long time commitment for production. However, the subject matter and setting are conducive to making a cinematic film.
TV: Though this is much more suited for a feature film, adapting this book into a limited television series is doable. It would need to be fleshed out quite a bit to make it ready for adaptation.
Key points: Universal villain; Finding lost treasure; Engaging battle sequences; Special effects; Adventurous
Synopsis
In 1943, a submarine damaged by allied forces becomes marooned on a deserted island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Its cargo is large amounts of Nazi gold. The crew take another submarine off the island, but since they never arrive at their destination, no one knows where the gold is hiding.
Twenty years after the end of World War II, a group of young men who work at a scout camp together are all about to graduate. To celebrate their graduation, they buy a boat and embark on a trip around the world. They pick up some girls at a South American harbor and bring them on board to join their party.
Their boat runs aground on the deserted island where the lost submarine is marooned. While exploring the island, they come across the damaged submarine and discover the gold. They load a bunch of crates containing the gold onto their boat. When the girls are dropped back at their port, the guys gift them with some crates of gold. Unbeknownst to them, there is a group of Nazis who have been hiding out in their country since the war. The Nazis recognize the crates being carried by the girls.
The Nazis follow one of the girls home. They kidnap her and kill her parents. After torturing her, they discover that the rest of the gold is on the boat with the guys.
The guys are tipped off that the Nazis are in hot pursuit and they are able to enlist the help of the United States Marines. They have an adventure of a lifetime as they team up with the Marines to defeat the Nazis. When the battle is over and the Nazis are vanquished, the guys are safely deposited back in their home country of Belgium.